Petition calling for better Sheffield bus service

Jacqueline Robinson, Ada Dunn, Janet Mitchell and Doreen Edwards, who are complaining about their local bus service - the Wybourn 56. Also pictured is Jacqueline's granddaughter, Lashay Edwards, aged three.

ANGRY residents on a Sheffield estate are calling for drastic improvements to a bus service which has blighted their lives for almost two years.

More than 500 signatures have been collected on a petition to step up the number 56 service from Wybourn Circular to the city centre, operated by First South Yorkshire.

People living in the area say they have missed hospital appointments and had their daily commutes disrupted on a regular basis due to the inconsistency of buses on the route.

After more than two years of complaints they claim have fallen on deaf ears, residents took to the streets to find out how many had been affected by the problems.

Self-employed domestic worker Jacqueline Robinson, aged 48, sprang into action when the failure of buses to turn up meant she was forced to apologise to her employers, on top of the problems she faces transporting her son Josiah, 10, to Wybourn Community Primary School.

Ms Robinson, of Maltravers Crescent, Wybourn, said: “Sometimes it doesn’t come, other times one will come and the next two will be missing.

“It’s causing so many problems. People have got lives, there are so many living on the estate who rely on that service. This route is right at the heart of the community.

“I’ve heard tales of pensioners standing in the rain for an hour waiting for a bus to come along.

“My dad is 75 and he had to do the same, it breaks my heart and I know it’s not just my dad.

“The petition is calling for action over the unreliable and poor quality number 56 service. We asked people to sign to register their dissatisfaction.”

Ms Robinson plans to send the petition to First South Yorkshire to get the firm to resolve the problem.

A spokesman for First Group said the company would look into the issue and hoped to improve services across the city under the new Sheffield Bus Partnership.